ilovewritingfandomcom-20200214-history
Firepower
Characters Natalie- more powerful than she knows, and underestimated Sophie- mood swings, can go from gentle like waves against a shore to dangerous like a hurricane Elizabeth- shy, but speaks her mind Annabelle- friendly, and essentially a go-with-the-flow type of person Chloe- mysterious and silent, rarely shows or tells what she thinks or feels about anything Power Levels (powers being used small, like a campfire, not a house on fire, a pond, not a lake, a wind, not a tornado, except for #8) one-able to use your power slightly, at random times, unevenly two- able to use your power to move things more confidently, evenly three- able to move things with you power perfectly four- able to control things, make them do what you want them to unevenly, occasionally five- able to control things confidently and evenly six- able to create your power's symbol (fire, water, etc.) out of nothingness occasionally, unevenly seven- able to create, move, control, and use your power perfectly eight- unheard of Intro The way my world works is that everyone has a power, Fire, Water, Earth, Wind, and Forest. Each family has a power, passed down from member to member. Fire families have red hair, Water have blue, Earth have black, Wind have blonde or gold, and Forest have brown. There is only one high school in our city. A student from each family power would learn and live together. It is a strictly one-gender per group. A Fire, Water, Earth, Wind, and Forest power would work together and learn the fullness of their powers, as they would be surrounded by other powers. My name is Natalie. My family power is Fire. Chapter 1 "Do I have to go?" I pleaded, looking around the room at my family. My father sighed and threw a ball of flame into the hearth. The logs crackled as the fire caught, and he turned to me. "You see that? Try to do the same." I nodded, and tried to light my hand on fire too. There was a tiny spark and then nothing. "You see? You need to go, or you will never master your powers." He told me. I nodded, then stood up. My grandmother looked up from her knitting and gave me a small smile. My grandfather sat in his rocking chair, snoring, and my brother, Daniel, was playing with his power, making the flames dance up his arm, then extinguishing them. I ran up the stairs to my room and slammed the door. I flung myself onto my bed. Tomorrow I would be at the school. ~~ My mother puled to a stop next to the school and helped me out. "Remember, go into th left ''room. That's the girl section." She told me while helping get my bags out of the trunk. I had two bags containing all of my stuff. The first was packed with clothes, and the second had shoes, makeup, and my computer. I walked uncertainly towards the school, hearing the car pull away. I saw one blue-haired girl crying while her parents tried to coax her out of the car. A blonde was struggling to take out a ''giant ''duffel bag from her trunk. A older woman chased after a brunnette, holding a bag and shouting that she had left it in the car. I went inside and jerked back. Students were all chatting, staing firmly into their own power group. I made my way over to the Fire power group and sat down in one of the empty chairs and put my stuff down by my feet. A woman with golden hair tapped on the microphone that was on a stage in the front of the room. Everyone slowly fell silent, and looked up at her expectantly. "I will assign you to your groups now. No complaining!" She said sternly, and began rattling off names. I heard mine and my head jerked up. "Natalie, Sophie, Annabelle, Chloe, and Elizabeth!" I grabbed my stuff and followed the woman's directions. I knocked on the door of room G6 and opened it. A brown haired girl from Forest glanced up at me before turning back to her bed. We all had loft beds, with space underneath for whatever we desired. Other than the Forest girl, no one else was there. I took the bed in the middle, and started unpacking my bags. There was a box for clothes, but that was all there was under my bed. I looked around and realized all of them were the same. I shrugged and started putting my clothes into the box. When I reached into my second bag, I felt something. I pulled it out and saw an envelope. I opened it, and a wad of cash and a note fell out. Openeing it, I read the note. ''Money for decorations &furniture. ''I crumpled up the note and stuck the money into my box, shoving it to the bottom. I didn't trust anyone outside of my power group, and certainly not complete strangers. I climbed up the ladder onto my bed. It was completely white, no color on it anywhere. I glanced over at the Forest girl's bed, and saw that she was already changing the sheets with her own. I was a little disappointed that I hadn't thought to do the same, but I was distracted when the door opened and two other girls walked in. "It's so confusing." A blonde said, looking at a map. "Are you Natalie?" Her question surprised me, and I nodded. "Oh good! Then we're here. My name's Annabelle. This is Elizabeth." A girl with black hair slipped by her and took a bunk. Annabelle followed suit and took another. "Where's Sophie?" She asked, looking around. A few moments later a blue haired girl with long hair entered, her blue eyes nervous. She ran to the empty bed and started unpacking. Annabelle, who was obviously trying to join us altogether, said "Hi Sophie! I'm Annabelle." Sophie glanced up before ducking her head back down and continued unpacking. Forest girl, the only name I didn't know, gave us our schedules. I took mine without comment. When she gave one to Annabelle, the blonde smiled and said, "Thanks Chloe." Chloe didn't respond. I laid down on my bed and read the schedule. "History, English, Math, Training, Literature, Vocab, Computer, and P.E." I muttered. Chapter 2 "Should we be doing something now?" Annabelle asked, straightening her sheets. I looked at the schedule again. "We have free time from 3:00 to 7:00." "What? We have a curfew?" Elizabeth snapped, her head whipping around. "Um, we have to be in our rooms at 10:00 at the latest." Elizabeth rolled her eyes and sat on her bed. I climbed onto mine and opened my computer. I went to a map of the area and saw there were three furniture places, one Goodwill, and a lot of food and clothing stores. I saved the picture on my computer and went to my email. After a short conversation with my mom, I turned it off and laid down on my bed. Glancing around, I saw that the others were clearly bored as well. Sophie was surfing the Internet, Elizabeth was trying to find her powers, Annabelle was trying to make conversation, and Chloe was reading a book. I started wandering around our apartment. There was the main room that the others were in, which, it turned out, had a small fridge. The other was a bathroom. Disappointed, I went back to the main room. ''Might as well try to make conversation. ''I thought, walking over to the others. I tried Sophie, who ignored me, Chloe, who ignored me, Elizabeth, who ignored me, and decided against Annabelle, who was in a conversation with someone on her phone. Great. We'll get along ''really ''well. ~~ I opened my eyes, blinking a few times. I sat up and climbed down from my bed, grabbing some clothes from the box. I looked around for a place to change, then climbed back on top of my bed. Changing quickly, I went back down the ladder and put on a pair of shoes. The others were already done, and were starting to gather their stuff. I shoved all my school supplies into one of my bags, then ran after them. Annabelle was looking at the map and telling us where to go. When she tried to tell Sophie to turn left, Sophie's eyes grew dark and she frowned, but turned left anyway. We went into our first class, which was Math. There were table groups, with 5 desks per group, one for each of us. We sat down in one of the back groups, with Annabelle on one side, Elizabeth on the other. Chloe sat next to Elizabeth, clearly trying to avoid having to talk, leaving Sophie to sit on the other side of Annabelle. The class filled pretty quickly, and I noticed that Fire and Water students never sat next to each other. No one mentioned it, but our two groups didn't get along very well. Our powers were enemies. Water quenched fire, and fire destroyed water. There were no other major differences with the power groups. All I learned in class today was that our teacher wanted us to take "group tests" this year, meaning we would all take the test together. I could already see what was going to happen: ''I think we should circle b. No, we should circle e! No, she's right, it's b! You are all wrong, it's a! (etc.) The bell rang and we left the clasroom, going to Training. It was in a giant room, with different objects spread all over tables. I noticed a barrel of water, and what looked like a fan, before the teacher called us to attention. She had gray-blonde hair, green eyes, and must be a Wind Power. "This is where you will be learning how to use and master your powers. Now, I don't expect you to be able to master it this year, it will take at least three more. "I will be teaching you, but NO fighting against each other is allowed. If you do, you'll be given somewhere from a weeks worth of detentions to expulsion, depending on how you behave other days. This class is not a joke. This is your training so you can go out into the world and use your powers." Chapter 3 We had been introduced to all of our classes today, each of them giving a speech about their class. I was bored out of my mind. By the time we got back to our dorm room, it was about 6:45 p.m, dinnertime. We went to the café, and I stared. The place was packed, with boys and girls, all sitting in their designated groups, but leaning over to talk to people at other tables. We worked our way over to an empty table and plopped our stuff down. Almost immediately, a boy with gold hair slides in next to Annabelle, were I was about to sit. "Hello." He says in a seductive voice, raising his eyebrows. Annabelle's eyes turned cold. "Go away Derek." "Or what? Gonna ruffle my hair? Oh yeah, that's right, you don't have your powers yet." Derek smirked, twirling a lock of her hair. Annabelle suddenly stood up, grabbed her bags, and smacked Derek in the face. He dropped her hair, surprised, and she stormed out of the cafeteria. "That's right! Run you little bitch!" he called after her. Derek shrugged and left. The four of us stood there awkwardly. "If I had my power right now," I muttered, "I'd set his pants on fire." ~~ I left the cafeteria before the others, and went back to our dorm. Annabelle was sitting on her bed, reading, but I could tell she'd been crying. "Annabelle?" I asked hesitantly, looking up at her. She put her book down and faced me. "I'm fine!" "I was just bringing you this." I held up a book that had fallen out of one of her bags. "Oh, um, thanks." Annabelle cheeks flushed, and took the book from me and put it safely under her pillow. "What was up with Derek?" I asked, my curiosity getting the better of me. Annabelle shrugged. "Old enemies, from when we were younger." She didn't continue, and I didn't press her. However, late into the night, when everyone else was asleep, Annabelle stood up and got dressed. Then, she climbd out the window and vanished into the night. I followed her, weaving inbetween the trees. We were deeper into the woods, by a lake. Annabelle was sitting by the waters' edge, staring down at her reflection. I saw her eyes darken, her forehead crease. She was trying to make the water ripple. It didn't. Eventually, Annabelle gave up and started crying, her shoulders shaking. I wanted to talk to her, but I figured that would be rude. So, I vanished into the shadows and went back to our room, climbing through the window. Then, I went to bed, and pretended I was never awake. ~~ The next day we had Training. It turns out we have a lesson a day, which I thought was stupid. Training would be exhausting. The teacher, who wanted to be reffered to as "Trainer" told us to get into our groups and get into a designated space. I stood in the circle labeled, "Fire". Chloe stood on one side, Annabelle on the other. Elizabeth and Sophie were facing towards me. Trainer walked over to us and told the others to back away. Then she set the ground on fire. A circle of flames leaped up, surrounding me on all sides. "Use your powers! Make it move!" Trainer called. Then she left to go to another group. "What?" I screamed, glaring at her. I stood in the flames, watching them. They were almost hypnotic, like watching the ocean waves. I reached my hand out and put it into the flames. There was no pain, just a sort of soft, gentle rubbing. Almost unconciously, I put my palm face-up into the flames, and willed them to come up, to go into my hand and stay there. The fire obeyed, shrinking into a small flame and leaping onto my palm. I held it, and asked for it to go out. It didn't. The fire just sat there, flickering silently, in my hand. Trainer walked over to me and smiled slightly. "Good job." Then she saw the fire n my hand and froze. "You... controlled... the fire?" She asked haltingly, her eyes wide. "I can't get it to go out." I admitted. "Controlling the fire s a level four!" Trainer was estatic, practically shouting. "But, I can't get it to go out." I muttered again, blushing. "You just close your hand and will it to have no oxygen. It will go out. Doesn't have to be in your hand to do it, either." I tried, and when I opened my hand, the fire was gone. "Good. Alright, your turn." She turned her gaze to Chloe. Chloe tilted her head slightly. 'What do I do?" She asked, her eyes narrowed. Trainer pointed to a chunk of trees, surrounded by a fence. She closed Chloe into it, and said, "Control the trees to let you escape." Chloe surveyed the trees for a few moments, then rested her hand onto a tree. The roots flew upwards through the ground, ripping up part of the fence. She did the same to the others, until the fence was lifted into the air by all the roots, tall enough that Chloe could walk under it without ducking. Trainer had turned, and was, like before, staring. "Wow. Two level foursin the same group! How likely is that?" She asked herself. "Alright, well, your turn." Her voice barely contained her excitement. Elizabeth looked down, then around. "What am I doing?" She asked quietly. "You will find your way out of this maze. It doesn't have an exit unless you make one." Trainer shoved her into a maze, and the entrance was sealed by dirt. We waited for a few minutes, and then, the entire maze vanished. Elizabeth was standing in the center of it, her hands on the ground, her eyes closed. She opened them, then jumped a little in surprise. "It's gone." She said unnecessarily, and walked over to us. "Making it vanish? All you had to do was move it. Making it vanish is level four!" By now Trainer looked like she was going to pass out from excitement. By now the rest of the class had stopped practicing, or trying, and were watching us. Sophie ignored them, and looked at Trainer. "What do I do?" "Get your way out." Then Trainer reached out to shove Sophie into a deep pool of water, but Sophie was a step ahead of her. Literally. Sophie jumped into it, plunging into the water. "How deep is that?" I ask after a few moments. "About 20 feet." Trainer shrugged. There was more silence. The ripples stop. There's more silence. A few people start looking nervous, and one of them whispered, "Is she okay?" Suddenly, the water erupts, spewing everywhere. The water lifts Sophie into the air, and disperses, so she lands on the ground, and we're standing in a giant puddle. She is dry, and flips her hair over her shoulder. Trainer nods, and smiles. "Level four, again! Your group is the most talented I've seen in a long time. Let's see if you have the same skill." Annabelle pales slightly, but nods. She looks like she's going to be sick. "Use the breeze to knock objects over." Trainer says, turning on a fan. The objects are simple: paper, a leaf, but get harder: a plate, a plant of some sort in a ceramic pot, and a giant dictionary. Annabelle stares at the paper, focusing her attention on it. It moves a few inches, but that's it. People wander back to their training, bored. Annabelle focuses harder, her hands clenching. The paper moves a few more inches, but that's it. Frustrated, she shoves her hand out toward it. It scoots about a foot more, but Annabelle's done. Trainer shakes her head, disappointed. "That is how most people do on their first try." She consolidates, but I see that Annabelle's cheeks were flushed red, and she kept her gaze fixed on her feet. The bell rings, and Annabelle runs out of the classroom before everyone else. I follow after her, trying to catch up. She goes to our room, and sits on her bed. She's crying again. "Annabelle." I say, closing the door. Annabelle jerks up, and looks at me through streaming eyes. "What?" She snaps, glaring at me. I step back reflexively, shocked. Annabelle was such a happy-go-lucky type of person. "You did average," I tried. "Yeah, and everyone else in this group got level threes." Annabelle laughs, but it's humorless, and sounds hysterical. "Why don't you just practice more?" "And humiliate myself again? Great idea!" Her voice was sarcastic, and dares me to disagree. "No. You and me in the forest tonight." I suggest. Annabelle's eyes narrow, and replies carefully, "Sure." "Alright. It's time for Study Hall, so let's go." Annabelle gets up and grabs her bag, which she had tossed onto the ground, dried her eyes, and headed out the door. It was uncomfortably silent. As we neared the Hall, Annabelle's look turned into her normal bubbly self, and begins chatting mindlessly with me. She acts like herself, but I see it in her eyes. She's breaking inside. Chapter 4 -Annabelle I can see it already. The others in my group moving up levels, getting better than students in senior year. And I'' would be known as "That girl who fell behind in her group". I bit my lip. ''No, I reasoned, more likely people will forget I even exist. ''I wish they would now though. Especially Derek. "So, Annabelle, I heard your the bottom in your group. All level fours, and you're ''already ''failing." He smirks. "Why does that surprise me?" Natalie clenched and unclenched her hands, trying to decide whether to defend or be silent. She seemed like a good person, but there was something in her eyes that made you wish that you were never her enemy. I stoppd her from having to make the decision. "Wow, still sore that I dumped you?" I smirked coldly. "Although, I can see why. I mean, who would want a filthy pig for a boyfriend anyway?" Derek threw his fist at my face, aiming to break my nose. My hand shot out without even thinking, and I grabbed his hand, stopping it. Well, no, I was actually holding onto him. His fist hand opened and he was grabbing at my hand for support. I saw why. My hair was flying around my head, and wind was rushing through the Study Hall, knocking everything over. It was directed at him, though, and he was in danger of being blown against a wall or through a window. The thought of glass raining down, and a ''body, even if it was his, broke my concentration. The wind stopped, my hair fell down in a giant tangle, Derek let go of my hand, and the entire school was staring at me. Natalie glanced at me. Her hair was all over her head, knotted, but her face was a mask. "Why don't we go find our homework papers?" She suggested calmly. Immediately, everyone snapped out of their trance and started scrambling for their papers, arguing over whose assignment it was. Natalie had one hand on her shoulder and guided me to our groupmates, sitting down carefully in a chair as if it might explode. I noticed that her eyes were narrowed, and she was probably concentrating. I sat down next to her and pulled out my books. The other students were oblivious to us, completely, as if we didn't exist. It was only after Study Hall was over that I noticed Natalie hadn't done any work, and that she was focused on something the whole time. ~~ I followed Natalie into the forest, ducking under branches from trees and trying to figure out what I did. When we were standing in a clearing near the lake, Natalie spoke. "I doubt you need my help. What you did was pretty impressive." "I can't do it again though. I keep trying, but now it won't happen. Like it's shut off." "No, you probably just need to simulate it. Put yourself in a situation so you need ''your power. That's what happened before. You had to defend yourself." Natalie shrugs, thinking, "So I should put you in a dangerous situation? That's risky." She's still debating when she throws a punch. It comes within an inch of my face, but stops. I gasp, but nothing happens. Natalie frowns. "Come on, I'm about to beat you up. Use your power to defeat me!" Then she punches at me again, her fist hovering over my stomach before shooting out again towards my ribs. Nothing happens. Natalie slams her hand against a tree, singing a handprint into it, annoyed. "Come on, you have to ''want ''to hurt me!" "I don't want to hurt anyone!" I snap, sitting down. Natalie sits down next to me, and thinks. "Maybe, instead of trying to simulate it using danger or surprise, we need to try to cause it by using something gentle. Since you don't want to hurt anyone." She adds the last part as an afterthough. "I mean, I don't either, but if it comes to protecting people I care about, there's no boundaries." She says that like it should be obvious. "Well, I guess. So, how will we cause it?" I ask, trying to stay away from ''that ''topic. "Beauty? Delicacy?" Natalie shrugs. "Okay. Let's give it a shot." Natalie opens her hand, and a tongue of flame dances across her palm gently. It changed from red, to orange, to yellow. It was stunningly pretty. I focus, trying to make it do something. "Try imagining it's beauty, and then focus." Natalie whispers quietly. I stare at the flame, watching it, trying to influence it's powerful beauty to my will. It flickers slightly, then goes out. I glance at Natalie. She's staring at her hand, surprised. "It worked." She murmers, then grins. "Nice one, Annabelle." "Thanks. I wonder why it only works sometimes?" I ask, more to myself, but Natalie answers. "I suppose it's because you're so nice and gentle. When you are angry, it takes away that and leaves your power. Then, for the fire, probably because you only see the best in people. Influences the best in things to your advantage." She looks up, and notices my face is pink with embarrasment. "We should get back to our dorm. If we're caught breaking the rules..." Natalie trails off, and whispers, "Run when I do." Then, she bursts into a run. I follow behind her, and only after I'm a safe distance away do I turn and look. It's a bear, pausing at the edge of the clearing, watching us. I shudder, turn back around, and run after Natalie to the dorms. Chapter 5-Natalie I didn't regret helping Annabelle. Over the next few days or Training, she achieved level four along with the rest of us. However, we all had trouble having the energy to use our powers. When I extinguished fire after fire, I would get a giant headache. Once, when Chloe was trying to uproot a 50 foot-tall tree, she collapsed and had to be taken to the hospital, because she had smacked her head on the floor. The principal got worked up about it, too. But not in the same way as Trainer was. "There is no way you can keep doing this! They aren't strong enough!" "They're level threes!" Trainer snapped back. "Level four is Junior year! They're Freshman!" "So?" Trainer smirked. "Just because they have the mental strength doesn't mean they're physically strong enough!" Principal's face was turning red with anger. "They will stay in level one with the rest of this class until I see fit!" Trainer frowned, but she didn't argue. Principal left, and Trainer turned to us. "You need to build up strength. From now on, work at the gym during Training. "What?" I asked, hardly believing it. "Principal says you're not strong enough. So go get strong!" Trainer barked back. "But, what about training?" Annabelle asked quietly, keeping her poker face on. "You will be training. Same reason, differet way of it." "Same reason?" Elizabeth asked, frowning. "Yes. Same reason. To learn how to use your powers. If you're too weak to control it, you won't get anywhere. Now then, tommorow, you will go to the gym and work out. I will have assigned your workout nstructor to explain and help you with everything. And what to do." The bell rang before we could protest, and she shooed us out of the room. "If you don't show up for the gym, I'll know." Then, she closed the door in our faces. The mood out our table was tense. The empty chair across from me reinforced Trainer's idea abot us training in the gym, but I disliked it. However, Elizabeth, who was sitting next to me, began the conversation. "This is a horrible idea. Why can't we just be working on level two stuff or something?" "I agree. As if we need any more attention." Sophie frowned, glancing pointedly at a table group that was watching us almost reverently. "Besides, it's just level four. It's Junior, not, like, college-grade or anything." Elizabeth shrugged. "Actually, um, if we're four in Freshman, we can be five in Softmore, and ''six ''in Junior. Then ''seven ''in Senior." Annabelle told us quietly. "Six and seven? Isn't that first and second year of college?" I asked, surprised. "Yep. And people take it for one year, seven for another. So we'd be done with all of out training by the time we graduate." Anabelle's grinning with barely contained excitement. "Well, then. I guess that pretty much means that we'll be at the gym tomorow?" Sophie asks, looking eager. "I think we should," Annabelle shrugs, "besides, it's mandatory, so why not enjoy it?" Elizabeth and I exchange looks, then glance at Chloe's chair before turning back to our food. Although it might be good for us, we both seemed to agree that it was awkward. ~~ Chloe had come back that night right before curfew. We explained what had happened, and all she said was "Fine." She didn't elaborate, so we went to bed. That morning, instead of going to Training with the rest of our class, we went to the gym. A couple instructors, a man and a woman, were waiting for us. As we passed, the man checked us off; making sure we were all here. Then, he pulled out a notebook and began reading out loud. "First, warm up by jogging five laps." The other instructor, showed us the giant track we had to run around five times. "Now, stay in a group. You will be lead runner for the first lap, Earth. Then Fire, Water, Forest, and Wind. Understood?" "Yes," we all replied. "Good. Now, begin!" After the laps, our instructors introduced themselves as "Instructor of Speed" for the woman, and "Instructor of Weights" for the man. They refused our names, choosing to call Annabelle "Wind", Elizabeth "Earth", Chloe "Forest", Sophie "Water", and me "Fire". After introductions, Weights announced we would be doing stretches. Speed began doing intracite stretches that we had to copy that made my legs, arms, and torso hurt. We did push-ups and planks, sit-ups, and moe that lost track of. By the time we were done with that, I wanted to go back to bed and sleep for a year. "Next is more running. This time, ten laps, which will be two miles." He announces. We all groan and get up. "Hey!" Speed barks, standing up. "No complaining! If you complain, you run double!" We all fall silent immediately, but shoot a few nasty looks when they're not looking. By the time we finally finish with that, we're all dead on our feet. Sophie tries to move some water bottles over to us because we're too tired to go get them, but it doesn't work. We're too tired to concentrate on anything other than breathing. Speed comes over to us. "All right, your time for two miles is 20:34. You can do better than that!" "We can't," Annabelle gasps, "Chloe got knocked out yesterday, so we're kinda slow. Plus, we already ran a mile before this." Speed frowns. "Pathetic. No excuses are accepted! Now, get up! We still have more training to do!" She barks, storming away. We drag ourselves up to our feet and stumble over to them, trying to ignore the fire in our legs. ''Fire. I concentrated hard on the pain which ''felt ''like fire, and closed my hand into a fist. The pain went out. Immediatly, everyone relaxed and glanced at each other, then at me. I smiled sheepishly and pointed at the instructors. They slowly turned their attention back to Speed and Weights, who were discussing something under their breath. Annabelle listened closely to the breath, and frowned. I cocked my head, but she shook hers and placed a finger to her lips. TBC Category:Teen Category:Original Story Category:Silver's Stuff Category:In Progress